Final Project

Problem & Solution

 Many people today in the UAE are obese or seriously overweight. Why, and what can be done about it?

Introduction:

Obesity: in statistics

People are getting fatter almost everywhere in the world. The World Health Organization predicts there will be 2.3 billion overweight adults in the world by 2015 and more than 700 million of them will be obese. Figures for 2005 show 1.6 billion adults were overweight and 400 million were obese. People are getting fatter almost everywhere in the world. Obesity is a modern problem - statistics for it did not even exist 50 years ago. The increase of convenience foods, labour-saving devices, motorised transport and more sedentary jobs means people are getting fatter.

BMI Explained

The body mass index (BMI) is the most commonly-used way of classifying overweight and obesity in adult populations and individuals.

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/)


So, growing obesity rates are a worldwide problem. It is a particular problem here in the UAE. In the past, most Emiratis lived a tougher, more nomadic existence, involving hard travel and physical labour. Today most live a softer, more sedentary life, travelling by car and holding desk jobs requiring little physical exertion. That these jobs exist is due to the rapid economic expansion over the past 40 years, since the discovery and exploitation of oil. In addition, many people today entertain themselves by watching TV or playing computer games, neither of which involves physical exercise. Even when they leave home, many Emiratis no longer walk; they drive everywhere and many seem to have an antipathy towards leaving their cars: for example, parking outside shops and tooting for service seems to be a local pastime. Finally, as well as traditional Arab cuisine, itself often quite high in fat and sugar content, there is today the widespread temptation and easy availability of high-fat and high-sugar fast food. McDonalds, KFC, Dunkin' Donuts,and various pizza chains are ubiquitous throughout the UAE. As a consequence, the UAE had the highest rate of diabetes in the world in 2007, with 19.5% of the population aged 20-79 affected ( The Economist, Pocket World in Figures, 2009, p. 84), with 17.1% of total male population and 31.4% of female population clinically obese, meaning a body mass index of over 30 (The Economist, Pocket World in Figures, 2009, p.87).

Suzanne Trease, Chair of the Department of Health & Physical Education at Dubai Women's College, blames a sedentary lifestyle for the rise of obesity in the UAE. "A lot of them [students] have things done for them," she said. Trease said that from observation, physical activity is not typically part of the Emirati culture and is therefore not instilled in children by parents. "If we start here with these ladies, hopefully the next generation will incorporate physical activity into their lifestyle." She added: "Physical activity is not encouraged for women here." She said she has observed that PE is not part of girls' development, and this is evident in their weak motor skills. "Basic motor and coordination skills are not there and if they are, they're not refined." Trease stressed the urgency of incorporating healthy living into UAE's lifestyle. "It's imperative we educate this generation and those to come, about healthy living because if we don't, life expectancy will grow even shorter. If you can walk moderately for 30 minutes a day and keep your heart rate above 130 beats per minute, that's a great start (Naidoo & Moussly, Gulf News2009).

 

It is not just the food we eat but also what we drink that contributes to obesity. With more than 80 per cent of the UAE's adolescent and young women regularly downing fizzy drinks, they run a higher risk of becoming obese and getting osteoporosis later in life.These were the findings of a study conducted by Dubai Medical College students, titled ‘Health Effects of Soda Drinking in Adolescent Girls in the UAE'. The study was published in the international medical Journal of Critical Care. The students tested about 300 adolescents in the 10-22 age group from Al Raya High School, Al Sorouq Private School, Dubai Modern Education School and Dubai Medical College for Girls. "Soda drinking was associated with higher risk of obesity and decreasing levels of blood calcium and increasing urinary calcium excretion, which may lead to osteoporosis later in life," they concluded (Naidoo & Moussly, Gulf News2009).

 

The solutions? The only viable long-term solution is education. At an early age, children should be taught the importance of two things: a healthy diet and regular physical exercise. A better diet involves not just choosing healthier ingredients, such as fruit and vegetables. Sauces and style of cooking need to be watched. A healthy salad becomes a less healthy option if coated in, say, mayonnaise. Fish and potatoes are themselves good nutritious foods, but less so if fried as fish and chips. Governments around the world can help by encouraging schools to teach nutrition seriously. Campaigns in the media to educate all sections of the population, especially parents, to eat healthily, can also help. Cars, TVs and computers are not going to disappear so the only viable solution is education to encourage better diet and more physical exercise.

920 words

Bibliography:

The Economist, Pocket World in Figures, 2009, Profile Books, London, 2009.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7151813.stm

Naidoo, Amelia, and Rania Moussly. "Youth Obesity: the UAE's Big Problem." Gulf News [Dubai] 13 Dec. 2009. Print.

 

Personal assignment

E-mail

The innovation which has transformed my professional life in recent years is the e-mail. At ADMC we faculty live and die by electronic mail. We send, every day, e-mails to people who are only a few desks away. In the past we would have gone to see these people in person or written hard copy notes to leave on their desks.

Electronic mail predates the inception of the Internet and was in fact a crucial tool in creating the Internet. MIT first demonstrated the Compatible Time-sharing System (CTSS) in 1961. It allowed multiple users to log into the IBM 7094 from remote dial-up terminals, and to store files online on disk. This new ability encouraged users to share information in new ways. E-mail started in 1965 as a way for multiple users of a time-sharing mainframe computer to communicate. Although the exact history is murky, among the first systems to have such a facility were SDC's 32 and MIT's CTSS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail).

So e-mail has been around a long time but it is only in the last 10-15 years that it has played a part in my professional development.In fact, all aspects of life have been changed by e-mail. When I first went to Brunei (we landed in Bandar Seri Begawan, or BSB, the capital, on 1st January, 1980) there was no widely available worldwide web. No-one had a computer. E-mails were unheard of. There were no projectors in classrooms. There weren't even whiteboards or airconditioning units in classrooms. I used chalk on a blackboard. And this was in the Pusat Tingkatan Enam (Sixth Form Centre), at that time the leading academic institution in the whole country. We didn't even have air-conditioning in our staff room, and papers had to be weighted down on desks to prevent them being blown away by the fans.

The contrast with the situation here today in ADMC is striking. Every classroom has a/c, projectors, smartboards, whiteboards (http://www.admc.hct.ac.ae/internet/). I can communicate with all my students by e-mail; getting them to check and read their e-mails is a different matter.

E-mails have transformed not just my professional life but all aspects of life in general. Increasingly people in their everyday lives, as well as their professional ones, are switching from old-fashioned letter writing to e-mail. It would appear to be an inexorable progression from hard to soft copy. When, in 1986, I was studying for my Licentiate Diploma in TESOL with Trinity College, London, (http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk), I received work modules by airmail, and returned the completed work likewise. It would take weeks for work to arrive, be completed, returned to London, get marked and sent back. The same tasks could be completed today by e-mail in a fraction of the time. The world has been transformed by electronic mail.

As to future devgelopments, prediction is a notoriously difficult business. E-mail, I think it is fairly safe to assume, will continue to be of paramount importance in all aspects of our lives. The future seems likely, however, to become increasingly mobile. ADMC has already begun a potentially transformative operation with the introduction of i-pads. This and the recent advent of 4G mobile phones seem set to inaugurate a new mobile revolution in both teaching and learning.

580 words


Bibliography:

"E-mail." En.wikipedia.org. http://www.google.com/. Web. 15 Nov. 2009.

"E-learning." www.admc.hct.ac.ae/internet. Web. 15 Nov. 2009.

http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/

First reflection

We did a practice summary on desert police patrols. My advice to the students was to look at the title of the passage, then skim it for the main ideas, then look more closely at the opening and closing paragraphs. I advised the students to omit all names of people and all quotations as this passage, like most we would look at, is about a broad subject, rather than an individual’s role.

The second summary we did, the first extended/assessed task, was about road accidents being the biggest cause of child mortality in the UAE. Normally my advice is to keep figures and percentages to a minimum. It was necessary in this summary, however, to include some statistics because it was the high rates of accidents and mortality and the low percentage usage of car seats by local car passengers which were the main points of the article.

The third summary, the second extended/assessed task, was about a new eco tour in waters off the Palm Jebel Ali, providing a traditional diving experience for locals and tourists alike. It was fairly straightforward and many students showed they had learned a lot from what we have done so far and they scored well. I think the summary work has been interesting and useful for us all.

215 words

2nd extended summary

The Arabian Gulf used to be home to one of the largest diving economies in the world. Early last century there were 1,000 pearling boats employing around 20,000 divers. By mid-20^th century, pearling still continued but had declined due to competition from Far Eastern cultured pearls.

To give Emiratis and tourists a taste of what pearl diving was like, Emirates Marine Environmental Group (EMEG) and Jumeirah Group have created a pearl diving eco tour off Palm Jebel Ali. Guests can dive to the seabed and, later, shuck their oysters, looking for pearls; although the chances of success are remote, they can keep whatever they find. The tour emphasizes authenticity and guests use traditional diving gear and eat local food cooked on board.

For centuries, pearling was the area’s main source of income and the new eco tours are trying to revive this rich heritage with a traditional experience.

148 words

1st extended summary

Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among infants and cause 63% of deaths among children aged 14 and under in the UAE. The rate of child fatalities caused by traffic accidents, over 22%, is way above the global average.

However, only one law has been passed concerning child seats in cars, saying children aged 10 and over must wear a seat belt in the front passenger seat. The Ministry of the Interior prohibits children under 10 from sitting there but 28% of children still do.

The Child Safety-Car Seat campaign is held annually to raise awareness but an estimated 98% of child passengers are not strapped in. Yet child car restraints can reduce risks by 50-75%. Statistics worldwide show the efficacy of child and booster seats in reducing injuries in accidents.

Simple unawareness seems to be the reason most parents don’t put their children in car seats in the UAE. Despite several local campaigns wich highlight both the problem and its solution, over the past decade 2,134 people have been killed and 23,082 injured in traffic accidents in Dubai alone. In addition to the various safety campaigns, Chevrolet donates car seats and the Baby Shop supports annual campaigns, and there has been an increase in car seat sales over the past 8 years, but it’s still a major problem.

221 words.

1st practice summary

Desert horsemen

Each of the UAE’s seven emirates employs night patrols of horsemen to look for signs of trouble in areas inaccessible by car. Each patrol consists of 6-8 horsemen who pair off to cover as wide an area as possible. Most of the horsemen are Indian, as attempts to recruit Emiratis have failed. They carry only kanduras, mobile phones and walkie-talkies. They patrol year-round, except for the very hottest months. They are busiest during the winter and school breaks. Their Arabian horses possess stamina but have to be well-trained to ignore the sounds of engines and human taunts. They monitor mainly minor offences but occasionally more serious crimes like drug smuggling.

110 words